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Active, Not Recruiting

NCT Number: NCT06409247

iExposure Intervention for Social Anxiety

Social anxiety (SA) is a highly prevalent mental health concern, thought to disproportionately affect youth with recent international estimates of more than 30% of individuals reporting clinically elevated symptoms. Despite the prevalence of SA, as few as one in five individuals receive care, due to limited access to evidence-based treatments. Additionally there has been a notable increase in social anxiety since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This proposal will use iExposure to develop a personalized mechanism-focused approach to optimizing treatment response for individuals with social anxiety by testing standard iExposure against two augmentations that incorporate distinct attention mechanisms (attention guidance and attention control).

Active, Not Recruiting

This study is active but is not currently recruiting participants.

Key information

Conditions

Social Anxiety

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Palo Alto University

Palo Alto, California, 94304, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Age 18 or older
  • Fluent in English
  • Leibowitz Social Anxiety Scale > 47 and endorses both social anxiety items on the Web Screening Questionnaire for Common Mental Disorders

Exclusion criteria

  • Currently receiving CBT for Social Anxiety Disorder
  • Significant visual impairment precluding engagement in the simulated teleconferencing interactions
  • Unstable dose of psychotropic medications within 6 weeks prior to baseline assessment
  • Current alcohol or substance use disorder
  • Current or past bipolar disorder or psychosis

Treatment and study plan

iExposure

Behavioral

There will be 4 treatment sessions, covering the iExposure intervention. The intervention and assessment process is entirely self-guided. Each session will last approximately 60 minutes. Participants will complete 10 mock-interaction trials for each session.

iExposure plus attention guidance

Behavioral

The attention guidance condition consists of two unique components in addition to the standard iExposure intervention: (1) the intervention rationale will include information about the importance of visually attending to the faces of the audience; (2) participants will be given a target audience member to focus their gaze on during each impromptu response. They will be told that they should look at and focus on the target audience member for the whole response. In each progressive session the number of trials where the participant is directed to focus on an uninterested audience member will increase.

iExposure plus attention control

Behavioral

The attention control condition consists of two unique components in addition to the standard iExposure intervention (1) the intervention rationale will include information about the importance of developing attention control; (2) participants will be given a central region of the screen (non-audience member) to focus on. They will be told that they should look at and focus on the central region for the whole response.

Primary outcomes

  1. Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Self Report Version

    Time frame: 0 days

    The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Self Report Version is a 48-item self-report measure of fear and avoidance concerning social interactions and performance situations (e.g., telephoning in public, talking to people in authority). The range of scores is 0-144; higher scores are worse.

  2. Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Self Report Version

    Time frame: 15 days

    The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Self Report Version is a 48-item self-report measure of fear and avoidance concerning social interactions and performance situations (e.g., telephoning in public, talking to people in authority). The range of scores is 0-144; higher scores are worse.

  3. Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Self Report Version

    Time frame: 45 days

    The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Self Report Version is a 48-item self-report measure of fear and avoidance concerning social interactions and performance situations (e.g., telephoning in public, talking to people in authority). The range of scores is 0-144; higher scores are worse.

  4. Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA)

    Time frame: 0 days

    The Personal Report of Communication Apprehension is a 24-item that assesses anxiety related to speaking in a variety of situation. The range of scores is 24-120; higher scores are worse.

  5. Personal Report of Communication Apprehension

    Time frame: 15 days

    The Personal Report of Communication Apprehension is a 24-item that assesses anxiety related to speaking in a variety of situation. The range of scores is 24-120; higher scores are worse.

  6. Personal Report of Communication Apprehension

    Time frame: 45 days

    The Personal Report of Communication Apprehension is a 24-item that assesses anxiety related to speaking in a variety of situation. The range of scores is 24-120; higher scores are worse.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale - Revised

    Time frame: 0 days

    The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale - Revised is a 20-item measure of depression. The range of scores is 0-60; higher scores are worse.

  2. Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale - Revised

    Time frame: 15 days

    The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale - Revised is a 20-item measure of depression. The range of scores is 0-60; higher scores are worse.

  3. Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale - Revised

    Time frame: 45 days

    The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale - Revised is a 20-item measure of depression. The range of scores is 0-60; higher scores are worse.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Palo Alto University

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Testing the Role of Attentional and Audio Vocal Mechanisms in a New Internet- Based Intervention for Social Anxiety: iExposure

Important dates

Study start
2024
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2026
First posted
May 10, 2024
Registry last updated
Mar 9, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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